Good morning, I'm James Price, President and CEO of the Canadian Stem Cell Foundation and I'm joined by Dr. Allen Eaves. Dr. Eaves is one of Canada's leading hematologists. He started the first bone marrow transplant programs in western Canada, founded the Terry Fox laboratory at the BC Cancer Agency, and now leads Vancouver-based STEMCELL Technologies, Canada's largest and most successful biotechnology company.
Thank you for having us here today. The Canadian Stem Cell Foundation is an independent, non-profit, charitable organization that champions stem cell science and builds Canada's role as a stem cell leader. We want to speak to you about how the stem cell sector is poised to not only treat a vast number of currently incurable diseases, but also to ease the financial burden on the health care system, create thousands of high-skill jobs, and set the course for Canada to lead the way in what is about to become a booming global market.
Stem cells represent the biggest innovation in medicine in the past 50 years. For decades, bone marrow stem cell transplants have been a difference maker in defeating leukemia and other blood cancers. Here in Canada, stem cell researchers are making inroads against multiple sclerosis and Crohn's disease. They are conducting clinical trials to relieve diabetics of the need for insulin injections, treat heart attacks, and reverse arthritis.
That this is happening in Canada should come as no surprise. Stem cells were first discovered here by Dr. James Till and Dr. Ernest McCulloch in the early 1960s. Subsequent generations of researchers have kept Canada at the global forefront in stem cell science and indeed, Canada ranks as one of the top three countries in the world.
However, we've yet to fully turn our research prowess into new therapies and commercial successes. What is lacking is a coordinated national strategy, one with significant private sector support to align the key players, including the scientists and clinicians, industry, philanthropy, academia, and Canada's health charities. The Canadian stem cell strategy reflects the government's innovation objectives of investing in pan-Canadian initiatives to create sustainable growth and economic opportunities for Canadians. It is a shovel-ready, innovation-based plan for health, health care, and economic growth.
The strategy goals are clear: deliver up to 10 new therapies to the clinic within a decade, create 12,000 high-skill jobs, and position Canada to capture 10% of the global market. The strategy calls for a total investment of $1.5 billion over 10 years. We would, however, emphasize that this is a joint private-public sector plan with two-thirds of the funding from non-federal sources. Already our foundation has secured $500 million in private funding pledges towards the strategy if the government commits.
Our ask is that the federal government invest one-third of the fund with a scale to average annual commitment to $50 million over the next 10 years. We realize this is a significant amount of money. The Canadian stem cell strategy is a bold, innovative plan. We built it that way—after more than a year of consulting with experts and our coalition of researchers, doctors, industrial leaders, major philanthropists, and health charity executives—because it will take such a bold plan to secure Canada's role in a global market that Bloomberg News reports will grow to $120 billion and set off a medical and industrial revolution.
Other jurisdictions realize this and have taken steps already. California has committed $3 billion and Japan has invested more than $1 billion in its stem cell program. Both are working with the private sector to attract clinical trials and advance their regenerative medicine programs in order to reap the rewards in terms of jobs and expanded economy.
Canada has made good investments in the field, but we must do more so that we aren't left behind. We need a coordinated, national effort to make the leap from great research results to great new treatments, to great new companies and jobs, and to great new economic prospects for all Canadians. The Canadian stem cell strategy provides a pan-Canadian approach to align investments and create accountability to deliver these results. A true reflection of Canadian innovation, it will deliver up to 10 new therapies to the clinic within a decade. It will transform health care by easing the burden of having to provide continuous care for currently incurable conditions, thereby relieving system stress and generating long-term savings. It will attract private investment, generate thousands of jobs, and drive economic growth.
I urge you to include funding for the Canadian stem cell strategy in budget 2017.
Thank you. Dr. Eaves and I look forward to any questions you may have.